How did you decide to become an astrophysicist?

Question: How did you decide to become an astrophysicist?
- Keywords:
  astrophysics,
  career
Asked by Clownfish to Jim on 7 Mar 2016.
- Jim Barrett answered on 7 Mar 2016:
  
  Hey there,
  
  My path to astrophysics is kind of strange actually. I chose to study physics at university because I really enjoyed maths but I don’t really like the ‘pure’ maths like proofs.
  
  Since my maths was quite good, I ended up taking lots of courses in theoretical physics (which is just basically the more mathematical side of physics) and absolutely no astrophysics!
  
  When I applied for a PhD in theoretical physics, I didn’t get in, but they suggested that my skills would be excellent in the astrophysics group, so I applied on the offchance and now here I am!

Question: How did you decide to become an astrophysicist?